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Laughing in the Dark: A Decade of Subversive Comedy
A collection of essays, reviews and interviews from the Village Voice explores the idea of what makes us laugh and think, discussing the work of Richard Pryor, Dennis Miller, Whoopi Goldberg, Eric Bogosian, Rosie O'Donnell, Tracy Ullman, and many other artists who have shaped American comedy.
299 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1997
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May 17, 2020https://lauriestonewriter.com
"Laurie Stone is author of My Life as an Animal, Stories (TriQuarterly Books, Northwestern University Press), the novel Starting with Serge (Doubleday), and the essay collection Laughing in the Dark (Ecco). She is editor of and contributor to the memoir anthology Close to the Bone (Grove). A longtime writer for the Village Voice (1974-1999), she has been theater critic for The Nation and critic-at-large on Fresh Air." ----must be not much younger than me.
Laurie Stone, author of 'My Life as an Animal, Stories' and numerous short stories, wrote a ***wonderful essay*** in WRB March 2019 sort of on the MeToo movement. 'Was It Good for You?'
Essay quotes: 'The desire to nail whatever bastard you can get your hands on as puny reparation for thousands of years of unpunished male violence has been driving #MeToo usefully and buoyantly since the election of Trump."
"But #MeToo risks diverting its momentum with fuzzy thinking.....#MeToo is thrilling when it exposes criminals and predators. It is chilling, however, when the target has committed no crime or readily identifiable harm and has, rather, caused OFFENSE, or rattled some people, or triggered them, or made them feel an emotion they didn't want to feel..."
"my feeling is this: punish the artist [if criminally found guilty] and leave the art alone. Banning art does not look good on a movement, ever.....Bad people make good art."
"Some argue that a work of art made by a person who does bad things contaminates the culture. This notion is more contaminating of a culture than any work of art could be."
"......the long fissure in the women's movement dividing women who see their role as MORAL reformers and women who advocate for the sexual liberation of all people. I place myself firmly in the second camp. About the matter of redemption, as far as I am concerned human beings don't fall and therefore do not need to be redeemed. We are not on a path with an ideal narrative arc of right living. We are not on a path, period."
"Laurie Stone is author of My Life as an Animal, Stories (TriQuarterly Books, Northwestern University Press), the novel Starting with Serge (Doubleday), and the essay collection Laughing in the Dark (Ecco). She is editor of and contributor to the memoir anthology Close to the Bone (Grove). A longtime writer for the Village Voice (1974-1999), she has been theater critic for The Nation and critic-at-large on Fresh Air." ----must be not much younger than me.
Laurie Stone, author of 'My Life as an Animal, Stories' and numerous short stories, wrote a ***wonderful essay*** in WRB March 2019 sort of on the MeToo movement. 'Was It Good for You?'
Essay quotes: 'The desire to nail whatever bastard you can get your hands on as puny reparation for thousands of years of unpunished male violence has been driving #MeToo usefully and buoyantly since the election of Trump."
"But #MeToo risks diverting its momentum with fuzzy thinking.....#MeToo is thrilling when it exposes criminals and predators. It is chilling, however, when the target has committed no crime or readily identifiable harm and has, rather, caused OFFENSE, or rattled some people, or triggered them, or made them feel an emotion they didn't want to feel..."
"my feeling is this: punish the artist [if criminally found guilty] and leave the art alone. Banning art does not look good on a movement, ever.....Bad people make good art."
"Some argue that a work of art made by a person who does bad things contaminates the culture. This notion is more contaminating of a culture than any work of art could be."
"......the long fissure in the women's movement dividing women who see their role as MORAL reformers and women who advocate for the sexual liberation of all people. I place myself firmly in the second camp. About the matter of redemption, as far as I am concerned human beings don't fall and therefore do not need to be redeemed. We are not on a path with an ideal narrative arc of right living. We are not on a path, period."
December 20, 2014
Absolutely the best book of criticism I have ever read, of any artistic genre, just so happens, I love subversive comedy! This is flat out great writing, love that the author does indeed take sides, flaunts bias and reveals personal feelings and judgement. This author knows what she's talking about, certainly fleshed out what comedy is and what is does, at least good, sharp, satirical comedy with claws and fangs to it. Great, great jokes and you get to learn about some very obscure artists, this book takes us to the fringes of comedy and performance art. I loved this book!
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